


a previous engagement

by mardia



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Regency, F/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 07:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7034767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mardia/pseuds/mardia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You’ll be the target of every fortune-hunter in the country, of course,” Lady Phasma said dismissively, while Finn stared at the sheaf of papers in his lap. </p>
<p>(Originally posted on Tumblr for the prompt, Finn/Rey regency AU.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	a previous engagement

“You’ll be the target of every fortune-hunter in the country, of course,” Lady Phasma said dismissively, while Finn stared at the sheaf of papers in his lap. “A sheltered young thing like you with this fortune on your head, every rake and adventurer will see you as ripe for the plucking.”

That cut through the awful fog in Finn’s head like nothing else had all afternoon, not after this grand countess had appeared in Finn’s tiny rooms, looking down her nose at Finn’s plain attire, fit for the country schoolteacher he’d been and shockingly lacking for the lost heir to a mighty fortune that he now was, that he apparently had been all along--

“Fortune-hunters?” Finn repeated, faint. 

Lady Phasma gave him another one of her long, unimpressed looks and said, as if she were speaking to a child, “Yes, my lord. Fortune-hunters.”

That was the other shocking thing. Finn was now an _earl_. The long-lost heir to an earldom, who owned several estates, who would be expected to take his seat in the House of Lords, because he was a lord, because he was nobility, he was _rich_ , rich enough that people would now bow to him and want to marry him for his wealth and--

“Oh God,” Finn said, the papers falling to the floor as he buried his face on his hands. “Oh my God.”

“Well,” Lady Phasma said, “That’s hardly the reaction I expected.”

“I apologize,” Finn said after a moment, lifting his head. “I don’t mean--obviously I’m grateful, especially to you for seeking me out--but I was content with my lot, before this." Inadequate words for the peace and happiness Finn had discovered here, a community to call his own, work he was proud of, his friends, _Rey_ \--

But even the thought of Rey has his heart pounding beneath his ribs, while Lady Phasma looks around his shabby rooms with an expression of tightly controlled disdain. "I understand that your new position is not...what you were used to," she states, quite delicately for her. "But I assure you, we will be more than ready to help you adjust to your new standing in life--"

"We?" Finn parroted, too alarmed by this to be as polite as he ought. Or perhaps not, if he's now an earl, now of equal social standing to Phasma, who has always disdained the company of anyone from the village, who came down from her lofty estate miles away, just to turn Finn's entire existence upside-down. "Who is we?"

Phasma gives him another long look down her nose. "The Duchess of Alderaan has taken a great interest in your case. She was closely aligned with the previous Earl, politically, and has led the search for his long-lost heir."

"Oh," Finn says, fainter still. "Well."

"It was the Duchess who wrote to me," Lady Phasma elaborates. "I hardly credited it when I heard--our local schoolteacher, the next Earl of D'Qar? But once the truth was revealed, it was obviously my duty to inform you. The lawyers are on their way here, and once they arrive we can begin settling you into your new life--”

“Excuse me,” Finn said, getting to his feet. “Thank you for your time, Lady Phasma, but I should be going now.”

“Going?” Phasma repeated in disbelief. “Good God, where on earth could you be going at a moment like this?”

*

Rey’s in the smithy, and her welcoming smile fades to a confused frown as she sees Finn standing there, breathless from his run all the way through the village. “Finn, what’s happened?”

Finn’s out of breath, but that’s not why he doesn’t answer her, not immediately. Rey looks so--she looks exactly the same as always, soot on her nose, her face shining from exertion and the heat of the smithy, a hammer in her hand. She looks as familiar and as dear as she always has, and Finn cannot speak for a moment, thinking of all their careful plans, tossed into utter disarray thanks to a family Finn has never met, a legacy he never asked for. 

“Finn,” Rey repeats, her voice all concern and care. “Finn, tell me.”

So he does. He tells her. 

Rey is quiet during the telling of it, her eyes wide and fixed on his face as Finn fumbles through the mad story. Once he’s finished, she swallows before offering him a smile, her mouth turning up at the corners even as her eyes are filled with sorrow. “That’s wonderful news, Finn, it--I’m very glad for you.”

“Are you?” Finn asks quietly, and her smile wavers, trembles--and finally falls away. 

“So--what will you do now?” Not ‘we’, Finn notices. Not what they’ll do, but what Finn will do. As if he will simply leave her behind, go off to London with Lady Phasma and a duchess he’s never met, leaving behind Rey and all the promises they’d made to each other. 

Finn bites at his lip, nerves jangling--and then he does what he should’ve done the moment he stepped into the smithy, and he takes Rey’s callused hand in his. “You were willing to marry me when I was a schoolteacher,” he says quietly, his heart pounding in his chest. “Will you still have me if I’m an earl?”

Rey’s mouth works silently as she stares into his face, searching--and then she tells him, low but fierce, “Yes. Finn, _yes_. If you, if you’ll have me?”

Finn kisses her at that, hard, and from the way Rey kisses him back, her arm thrown around his neck, she’s willing to take that as an answer. 

Later, Rey gives him a plain gold ring, smooth and well-made. “I was going to give it to you this Sunday, once the banns were read,” she says, cheeks flushed. “Do you--will it still suit, then?”

“It’s far too good for an earl,” Finn tells her, grinning as he slips it onto his finger. It fits perfectly, of course. “I’ll have some work to do, living up to it.”

Rey beams at this, pleased, before a worried look flits across her face. “Suppose I won’t be making much more of them, if I’m to be a countess.”

“You can do as you like if you’re a countess,” Finn says stoutly. “Otherwise what’s the point?”

He’s not actually sure if that’s true, but no matter. He’ll make it true, because Rey deserves nothing less. 

Rey’s shoulders square at this, and she gives him a smile and a determined nod. “All right then. Come and introduce me to Lady Phasma, I think she ought to meet your betrothed.”

Finn looks at Rey, at all of her--her work trousers, her dusty apron and bare arms, and he grins from love and pride and overwhelming relief--no matter the unwanted legacy that’s fallen in this lap, he still has this, he still has Rey with him, beautiful and bold and _his_ , just as he’s still hers. “Yes,” he says, offering her his arm. “I couldn’t agree more.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] a previous engagement](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8911432) by [mardia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mardia/pseuds/mardia), [reena_jenkins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reena_jenkins/pseuds/reena_jenkins)




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